A submerged repeater housing is in the form of a cylindrical cask which is very strong in mechanical traction and which constitutes or contains a metal case for protecting the repeater equipment from the marine environment. This cask as assembled and tested in the factory is equipped at each end with fixing means for a line cable connection device which transmits the traction forces exerted on the line cable and with a cable connection tail connected to the repeater equipment through the wall of the case via a sealed feedthrough and which is connected to the line cable when the link is being laid. The cable connection tail does not have to withstand the traction forces which are taken up by the fixing means, and has a sealed structure solely for the purpose of withstanding the ambient pressure. The tail is constituted by a conductive tube which is used for remote power feed and which is coated on the outside with a polyethylene sheath and which houses items that provide transmission, for example optical fibers.
The means for fixing the connection devices with which a repeater cask is equipped constitute a weak point where the chain formed by the repeaters and the line cable may break due to an exceptional traction force being exerted accidentally on the line cable. Unfortunately, a break in the link at this location between the repeater cask and the line cable connection device is particularly damaging since it gives rise to uncontrolled breakage of the cable connection tail which may give rise to ingress of water into the repeater case.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention avoid the above risk of water ingress by providing a breakage point at the head of the cable connection tail, i.e., at its end furthest from the equipment casing of the repeater.